Jeremy Stenberg's "back-flip, no-footer, one-hander" earned him his first X Games medal -- a gold, no less -- as he emerged the winner Thursday evening of the Moto X best-trick contest.
But was it the best trick?
In the twilight outside Staples Center, 10 freestyle motocross stars competed in the finals and while Stenberg was certainly deserving of accolades, largely on the merit of the length of his jump and his execution, some of the others were a tad trickier and a few were downright scary.
Travis Pastrana, for example, unveiled a trick never before tried in competition: a back flip, during which he spun his handle bars the way BMX riders do, on a custom bike after spending $100,000 on research and development.
He might have stuck the landing too, had his front fork and wheel not fallen off upon impact.
He got a new bike for his second run and, needing a 92.21 to overtake Stenberg, spun a back flip and in midair, briefly raised and extended his right leg, and landed with no hands. He scored a 91.20 and earned the silver for his eighth X Games medal, four of them gold.
"We've had a lot of hiccups along the way, this being the most major of the hiccups," Pastrana said, in reference to his attempted bar spin.
Nate Adams, with a flat-spin 360-degree back flip on his second run, scored 90.40 and took the bronze, his fifth X Games medal. He was in a dour mood afterward, claiming he "was beaten by two tricks that shouldn't have beaten me."
Kenny Bartram, like Pastrana, tried something never seen during a competition: a back flip while riding side-saddle, with his legs crossed and his left foot on the peg. The foot slipped just before he landed and he fell, but he stuck the landing on the second of his two runs, and scored an 89.40 to finish fourth.
If this wasn't enough for the fans to digest, there were crashes enough to make them cringe.
Defending champion Chuck Carothers of Cleveland, Texas, closed the competition with the scariest spill. He was 30 feet in the air when he tried the same trick he won with last year: laying out over the seat, letting go, rolling over and resuming position on the seat before landing.
But he lost control of the bike during the descent, landed on his side upon impact, spun off and banged his head on the dirt. He was unconscious briefly before rising and lifting both arms as if to indicate he was OK. He was believed to have suffered a fractured shoulder.
That made Beau Bamburg's crash landing on his front wheel, after he had under-rotated during a back flip, look comfortable by comparison.
In the end, though, the evening belonged to Stenberg. The resident of Winchester, Calif., was all smiles, his body intact, his status much loftier than after his previous X Games best: a fifth in the same event during the Winter X Games in 2004.
Though his maneuver -- a back flip with his feet off the pegs and a one-handed landing -- didn't appear to be as difficult as some of the others, it was carried out on a 90-foot jump, making it the longest back flip in X Games history.
"I definitely think it made the difference with the judges," he said. "That's what they're looking for: big air."
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Temecula's Brian Deegan, 30, pulled out of the best-trick competition, citing ill-effects from a freestyle motocross accident in late May, which resulted in the loss of a kidney.
"I told myself that if I did not feel 100% I would not compete, and I gave myself right up to the last day of X Games practice," said Deegan, winner of the same event in the 2005 Winter X Games. "I don't enter an event unless I feel I have a chance to win and I got to thinking that I was not ready to do a 360 on my dirt bike 40 feet high on a 100-foot jump."
-- Pete Thomas
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BMX rider John Parker was knocked unconscious when he crashed his bike and hit his head during the BMX freestyle vert competition.
Parker was removed on a stretcher but regained consciousness and removed his gloves before departing in an ambulance to a local hospital.
"He's fine," said third-place finisher Kevin Robinson, who talked with Parker shortly after the accident. "They're just going to keep him overnight for observation."
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ESPN Deportes is broadcasting the X Games in Spanglish, a hybrid of Spanish and English, for the first time.
"I think it's a great thing," said \o7Paul Rodriguez\f7, 20, who won his second straight men's street skateboarding title. "It's good to see them doing this for minorities. Skateboarding is also kind of like a minority, so for them to give us respect is a cool thing."
In total, ESPN will have nine announcers, 14 cameras, and 90 production and technical staff members dedicated to the Spanish-language broadcast.
"I think they'll be happy with the coverage," Rodriguez said. "Hopefully, it will get the kids into something constructive."
His father, actor-comedian Paul Rodriguez, said ESPN's efforts were commendable.
